West Indies players refused to play 4th ODI before turning up

DHARAMSALA: The financial dispute between the West Indies players and its association ( WIPA) had almost led to cancellation of today's fourth ODI against India before last-minute intervention from BCCI joint secretary Anurag Thakur brought the team to the ground.

There were enough signals of the players' protest on the ground with the whole team unusually standing behind captain Dwayne Bravo at the toss. The team entered the HPCA Stadium at 1 pm for the match, scheduled to start at 2.30 pm and practiced for not more than half hour.

All the drama, however, unfolded at the team hotel. Around three hours before the match, Thakur rushed to the team hotel to convince the West Indies players to play the match.

Thakur, in his capacity as a key BCCI and HPCA official, persuaded Bravo and his players to compete, saying a no-show will result in an embarrassment for the organisers and to add to it, the disappointment of the fans, who came to watch a rare international game from nearby as well as far-off places.

The players relented after they were told that 'you are on your own if you decide against playing the match and HPCA is no more your host'.

"It did not seem the match between would happen as late 12 pm. The West Indies had decided to type their pull out until Thakur intervened. He spoke to the whole team including Bravo, support staff (Richie Richardson, Curtly Ambrose) and others. Everyone was sitting there," a source, who was privy to the meeting told PTI minutes before the start of the match.

"Thakur told them that 'all arrangements have been made, tickets are sold, people have travelled hundreds of kms to be here, so you come and play the game. Still if you have decided not to play the game, then you are on your own. I am no more a host, you are no more my guest," the source said.